Spider Baby or, the Maddest Story Ever Told (1967)

* High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition
DVD presentation of the main feature, available in the UK for the first time
* Original 2.0 Mono Audio (Uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
* High Definition transfer of the feature supervised and approved by director
Jack Hill
* English SDH subtitles for deaf and hearing impaired
* Audio commentary featuring Jack Hill and star Sid Haig
* Panel discussion from The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
FILM-TO-FILM Festival, recorded September 2012, featuring Jack Hill and stars
Quinn K. Redeker and Beverly Washburn
* The Hatching of Spider Baby - Interviews with Jack Hill, Sid Haig, star Mary
Mitchel, fan Joe Dante and more on the making of the film
* Spider Stravinsky: The Cinema Sounds of Ronald Stein - The composer of 'The
Terror' and 'Attack of the 50 Foot Woman' among others is remembered by Harlene
Stein, Jack Hill, American Cinematheque's Chris D. and others
* The Merrye House Revisited - Jack Hill revisits the original house that was
used as the main location in the film
* Alternate opening title sequence
* Extended scene
* Original Trailer
* Gallery of behind-the-scenes images
* The Host (1960) - Jack Hill's early short film featuring Sid Haig in his
first starring role [30 mins]
* Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Graham
Humphreys
* Collector's booklet featuring writing on the film by artist and writer
Stephen R. Bissette, and an extensive article re-printed from FilmFax: The
Magazine of Unusual Film and Television featuring interviews with the cast and
crew

Mysterious and kooky.

To be decently honest, I certainly avoided Spider Baby despite a few chances to see
the film throughout the last handful of years. It receives a lot of ‘love it or
hate it’ kind of reviews, it’s a 60s horror comedy, and it’s an early film from
the director of Coffy. All of these
things certainly explain its cult standing, but none of them wholly interested
me overall either. With the jam-packed latest Blu-Ray release of the film from
Arrow Video hitting my doorstep, I put all of my preconceived expectations
aside and went into the film with a fairly clean focus…and I came out blown
away. It’s a fucking riot. Spider Baby
is the kind of film that truly rises above many of its own genre restraints to
be a hilarious, often unnerving, and incredibly energetic film in its quirky
delivery.

The Merrye Family has lived in intense seclusion for a long,
long time. Plagued by a genetic disorder that makes the youth of the family
degenerate mentally once they reach a certain age, the family is left to the
watch of an elderly caretaker (Chaney, Jr) who does his best to make sure their
affliction never becomes public scrutiny. When some long lost cousins (Ohmart,
Redeker) and a lawyer (Schanzer) show up to talk about the estate, the family’s
long dormant (and murderous) lifestyle will come to light.

One of the first thoughts that came to mind when partaking
in the cine-carnival that is Spider Baby
is that it resides as a sort of Addams
Family on crack. Yet, while that comparison is quite viable in many ways
with the film's odd humor, crisp black and white visuals, and opening credits which
feature cartoons and a silly theme song, it’s not the whole story behind Spider Baby. Too unnerving and disturbed
to be full on­­ comedy, but far too humorous to be full-on horror, Spider Baby (or in its full title Spider Baby, or the Maddest Story Ever Told)
skirts a strange and effective balance of being awesomely charismatic and often
skin-crawling in concept. Take just the opening sequence as an example: a fun
and humorous delivery man is sent to the Merrye house to deliver a letter. He’s
comic in his delivery and the film sets him up as a great slapstick character.
He is then straight-up slaughtered by one of the family’s young daughters who
somehow believes in her mind that she is a spider and “catches” him in her web.
This sequence, goes from comedy to horror in no time flat. This is the kind of
strange navigation that Spider Baby uses to unnerve the audience and then break
that tension. It happens again and again. In particular, there is a dinner
scene that features quite a few ‘treats’ for the audience as we are fully aware
(or at least hinted at) what is included in the dinner, but the characters are
unaware. It’s borderline grotesque and uproariously funny at the same time.

For a film that is so utterly strange, the biggest and
quirkiest spin on the horror classic ‘normal people meet abnormal people’ angle
is how we are meant to relate to the Merrye family instead of the visitors. Outside
of one of the ‘outsiders,’ played with naive fun by Redeker, the rest are meant
to be, more or less, the actual villains for most of the film. This leaves the Merrye
Family as the main protagonists. This choice is powered by a heartfelt and
lovable performance from Lon Chaney, Jr. as their caretaker Bruno who genuinely
displays a sort of love and worry on screen that comes to a peak in one rather
emotional scene where he must make the ultimate decision on what’s best for the
family with tears streaming down his face. Of course, the family is creepy and the
hinted at cannibalism of the older members in the basement makes for some
decently disturbing undertones, but that doesn’t stop director Jack Hill making
the audience feel for their plight. No matter how awkward Sid Haig is or how
strangely charming and vicious Jill Banner gets, we side with their move.

The heart and soul of the film.

Perhaps it was the low expectations or maybe even more so the
thoughtful blend of genres and hinted at horrors within this films, but Spider Baby earns its cult status with its
fantastic execution of a story that could have easily gone awry at almost any
moment. It’s packed with quirky sequences and memorable performances. While it’s
pretty obvious that it will remain a film to garner a ‘love it or hate it’
status, I’m throwing my two cents into the ‘love it’ category. Here’s to hoping
you will too.

BLOODY NOTE: Even better is that in all of the awesome
special features on this packed Blu-Ray, it’s obvious that the cast and crew
are still absolutely in love with this film too. It’s not just your normal
behind the scenes features or commentaries. These are love letters to Spider Baby from all of its components.
It’s wonderful to see that kind of dedication to a film that rarely receives
the praise it rightly deserves.

Written By Matt Reifschneider

Even if you are remotely interested by the concept of Spider Baby, Arrow Video's massive release of the cult film comes with only the highest of recommendations. Not only is the film worth it, the release is packed solid. You can order your copy at the link below!

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Osaka Asian Film Festival 2018

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Here at Blood Brothers we, cult fan brothers Eric and Matt, are dedicated to bringing reviews to some of the worlds best (and worst, depending on your taste) cult like films from around this large globe. Whether it be Horror, Science Fiction, Kung Fu, or any other cult like genre - we are your first and last stop for all your review needs. Unapologetically kvlt.

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